Best current available JTM45 / 1987 clones?

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

Yes, lets not get overboard here. I have several vintage guitars that have all their original parts and function perfectly.

 

[Offshore Angler]

he he Greenburst, the neck can fall off a ‘63 at any moment with no warning!

 

[GreenBurst]

he he Greenburst, the neck can fall off a ‘63 at any moment with no warning!

Only if it takes a hit. It won't just "fall off".

So far it has been good for the past 62 years.

 

[Mr. Papa]

Does anyone have experience with the Dr. Z EMS? It seems to cover a lot of bases, JTM / Plexi / JCM, switchable tube or solid state rectifier.

 

[jb_abides]

Does anyone have experience with the Dr. Z EMS? It seems to cover a lot of bases, JTM / Plexi / JCM, switchable tube or solid state rectifier.

No... but reminds me Fargen has a built-in 'decade' switch e.g. Olde 800 MKIII and MPMKIII

You can also get a lot out of of the THD Flexi-50 including no hassle tube switching.

 

[calcheyup]

Not sure where you’re drawing the line on price or year, but I feel like I’ve seen early 70s 1987’s available for pretty reasonable prices on Reverb before. I’m talking for similar money to a reissue and probably less than a high-quality clone, and as Chuck advised, those will be a lock to at least hold their value.

Boutique amps can be tricky to sell. Obviously you have your Victorias (for example) of the world that a lot of people are aware of and seem to hold value, but I find you’re really narrowing your potential resale market because, just in my experience, the average dude out there doesn’t put a lot of value in a hand-made amp from what is essentially “some guy,” and you can absolutely lose your shirt on resale compared to what it cost to build.

Just my experience and two cents. I’m sure plenty of folks have had different experiences than myself!

 

[Mr. Papa]

Thanks for the broad range of advice folks, I ended up buying a ‘73 1987 for a decent price. I’m still looking at some of the other Swiss Army knife Marshall clones like Fargen and Z if anyone has experience with them?

 

[calcheyup]

Nice!! Congrats! Would love to hear some sounds from that bad boy…

 

[57gold]

A buddy has one of these in head form. Denis Cornell is a well known British builder, believe he built amps for EC. This versions switches from tube to SS rectifier so 45 to 50, can use EL34s or KT66s for an early JTM45 tonality. If I didn't have a 1966 JTM45, I'd buy one.

https://reverb.com/item/94498557-cornell-custom-plexi-45-50-1x12-combo-black

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

Thanks for the broad range of advice folks, I ended up buying a ‘73 1987 for a decent price. I’m still looking at some of the other Swiss Army knife Marshall clones like Fargen and Z if anyone has experience with them?

Nice. Did you get the turret or fancy turret? Not that it really matters, but I have heard 73's and 74's that sound considerably different. So many little variables in those amps that they were messing with at the time. Did you look inside? If you did is the cap on the presence pot 0.1uf or 0.68uf?

 

[Mr. Papa]

Nice. Did you get the turret or fancy turret? Not that it really matters, but I have heard 73's and 74's that sound considerably different. So many little variables in those amps that they were messing with at the time. Did you look inside? If you did is the cap on the presence pot 0.1uf or 0.68uf?

Oh man, fancy turret? I didn’t know there was such a thing. I can’t tell from the markings on the presence cap, it’s a mustard and about an inch long. It’s funny, the simpler a thing is, the more the individual components matter. Multiply that times society. This is why music matters.

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

Oh man, fancy turret? I didn’t know there was such a thing. I can’t tell from the markings on the presence cap, it’s a mustard and about an inch long. It’s funny, the simpler a thing is, the more the individual components matter. Multiply that times society. This is why music matters.

Thought the fancy turret would be worth a chuckle Great beasts those old Marshalls. Have you been playing the dickens out of it? I play my 73 1987 fancy turret with a 72 1935 bottom cab and it always puts a smile on my face.

 

[Mr. Papa]

I don’t have it yet but I have a 1965B cabinet I’m going to try out with it when I can. Also looking at 2x12” cabs, I moved all mine along last time I moved.

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

I don’t have it yet but I have a 1965B cabinet I’m going to try out with it when I can. Also looking at 2x12” cabs, I moved all mine along last time I moved.

I had a 2038 cab years ago. Had 4x12's at the same time too, though. My favorite speakers in an old 4x12 have always been the G12M's. My 1935B cab has the ones with the bass cones. I also have an upright 2x12 Marshall cab with 71 G12H speakers. The 1987 sounds really good through that too, but I have it hooked up with an amp I built.

 

[gary buff]

I had a 2038 cab years ago. Had 4x12's at the same time too, though. My favorite speakers in an old 4x12 have always been the G12M's. My 1935B cab has the ones with the bass cones. I also have an upright 2x12 Marshall cab with 71 G12H speakers. The 1987 sounds really good through that too, but I have it hooked up with an amp I built.

When I bought my 100w stack years ago I got it with 1982 cabs with the G12Hs to hold up to the 1959s power (I had the head tested when I changed tubes and with the orig. 6550s it was putting out 160 watts RMS!). I ended up taking two of the G12Hs and putting them in a Fender 2-12 bottom to use with my 1987 and it sounded killer, I carried that setup with me everywhere.